Assured Murray sees off Lu

Andy Murray moved into the third round of Wimbledon with a fairly straight-forward 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 win against the Taiwanese number one Yen-Hsun Lu today.

It was a strong performance from the Brit, hitting 41 winners to just 14 unforced errors as he chases his first Wimbledon title. Having had to dig deep early on, the Brit found his rhythm and was largely untroubled throughout, saving all three break points he faced.

Murray got off to strong start, and didn’t drop a point on serve until the fifth game. It required a dead net cord for Lu to finally win a point against the Briton’s serve, but once he did he started to find his range.

The Taiwanese man was taking a particularly aggressive approach, and it was he who seemed to be dictating the play early on. A stunning angled forehand earned him a break point, but a big second serve from the Brit staved off the danger. Two more break points were averted with two more big serves, before Murray eventually held.

Having failed to break the Murray serve, the wind seemed to leave Lu’s sails. A lacklustre game allowed Murray to break, and the second seed raced away to take the opening set 6-3 with little fuss.

Murray continued to press and affirmed his lead right at the start of the second set, breaking the Taiwanese player once again. The Brit was starting to assert his dominance on the match, and in the fifth game he had more break points to extend his advantage. Lu stood firm, but the world number 75 was just battling to stay within touching distance, as Murray continued to hold with ease.

The British number one continued to attack the Lu serve, and at 5-3 he found himself with more break points – this time for the set. Lu fended off the first two but Murray persevered, and the Taiwanese man eventually double faulted on the third to hand Murray a two set lead.

Lu showed more resistance in the third set, constantly raising his game whenever Murray threatened. But he could do nothing to damage the Scot; Murray’s serve was on song and even when Lu got into the point, the Brit would pull out an inch-perfect lob or perfectly controlled touch volley to the delight of the home crowd.

Three break points went begging at 3-2, with Lu often finding a big serve to keep Murray at bay. Having dug his way out of that hole, the Taiwanese player seemed to sense a chance to finally inflict some damage on the Murray serve. But the 2012 finalist once again responded, pulling off an exquisite running forehand pass that found the corner of the court.

And eventually Lu’s resistance began to falter. Murray saw a match point come and go at 5-4, but his persistence yielded two more at 6-5. And the Brit was finally able to seal it as a Lu forehand sailed long, securing Murray’s place in the third round.

Murray will take on 2013’s comeback king Tommy Robredo in the next round. The 31 year old started the year outside the top 100 after injury problems, but a great few months has seen him return to the top 30, including reaching the quarter-finals of Roland Garros last month.

Great report.Good to see Andy playing well within himself and progressing with another straight sets win.

June 26, 2013, 07:13 PMBy michelle

well done ANDY great shots ,bye bye smug fed

June 26, 2013, 09:07 PMBy zenjeff

A descriptive report. Thanks, MadHatter!

June 26, 2013, 09:25 PMBy lashurst

Thanks for the informative report Luke. I can't say much about the match because an unexpected visitor turned up so I missed most of it. From what I did see though Murray was looking very good and very confident.

Thanks for the informative report Luke. I can't say much about the match because an unexpected visitor turned up so I missed most of it. From what I did see though Murray was looking very good and very confident.

You're right Aileen - he looked in total control - great to see.

Great report MH (sorry about the headline :-(

June 26, 2013, 10:21 PMBy sidtypical

Nice easy match to watch unlike most of the others today that had me on edge of my seat

Was that black that Feds wife was wearing! Who was she texting? Were the fans faces red or a reflection of their uniforms? How will Andy cope with his enemies who will say he had it easy if he wins Wimbly? The plot thickens. I did not put my evil eye on all of the players honestly but Fed....